


The Most Excellent Tales of Sir Anthony of Kent

by aea2o5



Category: Don Quijote de la Mancha | Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
Genre: Gen, I just did what he told me, Knights errant - Freeform, sort of a parody
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 19:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12087795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aea2o5/pseuds/aea2o5
Summary: Anthony was a stablehand working for his father. One day, a famous knight errant visits his inn. Anthony finds out that his father is not really his father, and goes with the knight in search of adventure, becoming the world's most famous knight errant along the way.





	The Most Excellent Tales of Sir Anthony of Kent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Which concerns the beginnings of that most noble of knights, Sir Anthony of Kent

One morning, while I walked the marketplaces of London, I came across a stall wherein the merchant was trying to sell old love letters as if they were from the hand of the figures of legend. Approaching and looking through his papers, I found a manuscript written in Spanish, which I could read, but the merchant could not. Flipping through it, I discovered that it was about the most noble Knight of Unyielding Arm, which is to say Sir Anthony of Kent, also known as the Knight of the Flame and Fury.

Purchasing the book for twelve shillings, although I knew that it was worth at least twelve pounds, having been set down by Señor Diego Mensuela of Barcelona, a most worthy author, I immediately took it home, asking a good friend of mine to verify my translation, to ensure that I was correct in its subject.

Having proved its authenticity, I took it upon myself to translate this infallible history for the world, and specifically to bring forward the legends of our own English hero, Sir Anthony, a knight who, while famous beyond measure, our own English people seem to have little knowledge.

There now follows my translation, and if I have left anything out, it should hardly be for lack of trying, and only by the accident of our Spanish author, who, being Spanish, can hardly have given the full credit due to an English knight. Fortunately, I have a few other sources which, while not as complete as that of Señor Diego Mensuela, do add a little color to the tapestry that our author his woven for us.

In a small village, the name of which is not mentioned with certainty in any of my sources (some claim it to be Appledore, others Doddington, and still others Etchinghill), in Kent, which lies on the edge of the Kingdom which is called England, there was a certain youth named Anthony, who fervently fulfilled his duties as the stablehand at a certain inn, which lay along one of the main roads.

Now, this Anthony had been left at the inn when he was only a new-born baby, and the innkeeper had raised him as his own son, putting him to work as soon as he was able. The innkeeper being a somewhat learned man, he taught his adopted child to read and write. As the years went by, Anthony grew to be a strong, handsome young lad, one who made the serving girls swoon and the other youths jealous.

He learned to fight when they tried to torture him, actions deeply rooted in their jealousy, and he defended himself as well and better than any other would or could when greatly outnumbered. Despite his beatings, and the young Anthony gave better than he received, he was never tardy to his responsibilities.

It was because of this that on a certain day in the late spring, a knight came to the inn, requesting shelter for the evening, for there was a terrible storm. Anthony stabled the noble sir’s horse, and waited on his person, serving him dinner and the like, in the manner that a page might in a castle. The knight, seeing such dedicated service, and having recently dubbed his own squire a knight, following his marvelous deeds in a combat not too far from the inn, asked the fair youth if he would be his squire, to which our good youth replied that he could not abandon his father, the innkeeper, in such a manner.

Seeing such compassion and dedication in the lad, the knight, who bore the emblem of a white swan’s head on a green field, which is to say that he was Sir Robert of Greenwich, a most famous knight, asked the innkeeper if he would release the lad from his obligations to the inn, and allow him to join him in his service.

Hearing this, the innkeeper looked the goodly youth in the eye, and told him of how he was not his real father, how he had been found in the kitchens of the inn as a baby, and how the innkeeper had raised him as if he were his own son. Hearing this, Anthony fell on the shoulder of the innkeeper, weeping gently at the innkeeper’s nobility and generosity.

“What do you say, Anthony? Will you join me as my squire, and help me right the wrongs of the world?” For Sir Robert was a knight errant.

“I would very much love the life of adventure,” the lad replied, and the matter was settled. Sir Robert found him a pony to ride, and the innkeeper paid for a set of fine clothes, and within a week the two of them, knight and squire, left the inn to pursue adventure in the great wide world, the first of which I shall relate in the next chapter.


End file.
